That's a fantastic article. I really enjoyed learning about the game. I haven't played it yet and I am pretty much sitting on the sidelines, but if you see my posts, you will see that I am very much excited about the game and wanting to watch its progress. I have been thinking about buying it because I need to support a developer such as yourself and also get in on the "funny bugs" that are currently in the environment of the game. We'll see how that goes. I really hope to see this game mature into a blockbuster hit. It's already getting the good reviews it seems to deserve. Congrats!

Really loving your insights into the balancing of the AI. It's amazing the kind of procedural behaviors you can run into. It's almost like an Asimov "Robot" story!

I'm sure the complexity of the AI must be a pain in the behind. You mentioned lighting. Imagine that colonists will happily walk through a dark corridor in day-to-day base operations. But if there is an alien attack, or has been one recently, then obviously that dark corridor is going to be a cause of caution and stress untill the colonists feel confident that their base is secure once more.

(Oh, and wouldn't it be cool if a colonist saw a friend or colleague die in a certain room or place, and from then onwards whenever they went past that spot they'd become a bit more depressed or stressed, recalling the horror they went through there. The whole concept of "tribal emotional flow" is a really core element in any sci-fi, or indeed non-fictional, account of survivalists)

Just read the article, and I kind of wish I had before I bought into the game.

This game is VERY VERY early in it's development, too early for me I think, why? The unlimited Chickens spawn was driving me insane last night, I was trying to find ways around it, reloading save games, even trying to hack a save game file, but then this article tells me that this is an "ammusing" intended feature left in by Simon?

Sorry, but that's just not good practice. People are in the dark enough as it is with this game, let alone leaving in programmer easter eggs which you know will 100% crash the game, and for no good reason what so ever.

This has put me off the game, at least for a while, shame as I can see so much potential.